Damini succumbs to injuries at multi-organ transplant Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore the body to be flown back tonight.Back home “Damini” the brave soul awakens the nation.
An Air India aircraft has been chartered by the government
and sent to Singapore to bring back the body of the gangrape victim and
her family members to New Delhi.
The
chartered plane, an Airbus A-319, left the IGI Airport at 0800 hours
for Singapore and expected to return around 2000 hours tonight after
taking off from there around 1700 hours local time, Air India officials
told a news agency.
The aircraft is carrying some senior government officials, including those from the Union Home Ministry.
E Media is reporting each moment of people voice and
raise Q of accountability, stringent laws, fast-track courts to take up
the rape cases on priority which happen every hr across the nation,
need goverance action and attention to liberate the women from the
clutches parochial society. Damini 23-year-old victim of the brutal
gang rape and assault in Delhi that had triggered an outrage across
India died early Saturday morning in Singapore after putting up a brave
battle for life for nearly a fortnight.
The
girl, who was admitted to the well-known multi-organ transplant
facility Mount Elizabeth Hospital here on Thursday morning in an
extremely critical condition, breathed her last at 4:45 AM (2:15 AM
India time).
She was earlier treated at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
Meanwhile,
an Air India aircraft has been chartered by the government and sent to
Singapore to bring back the body of the gangrape victim and her family
members to New Delhi.
The chartered
plane, an Airbus A-319, left the IGI Airport at 0800 hours for Singapore
and expected to return around 2000 hours tonight after taking off from
there around 1700 hours local time, Air India officials said.
“We are very sad
to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4.45am on 29 Dec
2012 (Singapore time),” the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Kelvin
Loh said in a statement.
“Her family and
officials from the High Commission of India were by her side. The Mount
Elizabeth Hospital team of doctors, nurses and staff join her family in
mourning her loss,” the statement said.
The body has been moved to the mortuary in the Singapore General Hospital and will be flown back to India by a chartered plane.
Accompanied by her family, the body is expected to arrive in Delhi in the night.
President Pranab
Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a host of political leaders
condoled the death of the girl and paid rich tributes to the victim of
the sexual assault for her brave fight.
“Damini” was raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus by six men in Delhi on 16th December and thrown out along with her companion.
Indian High
Commissioner T C A Raghavan told reporters that the family was yet to
decide on the plans for the last rites back home.
He said the “Damini” fought a brave battle till the end. She was brought to Singapore for being provided good medical treatment.
The envoy “The
family is shattered by this development. At the same time, they realised
that best possible medical attention was given. And in the end it was
the scale of injuries that proved too much for the medical attention
provided to her”.
He said the final
few hours was a trying time for the girl’s family and they bore the
entire process with a great deal of fortitude and courage.
Raghavan said he
has passed on the condolence message of the Prime Minister to the family
in which he had spoken of the desire to make India a demonstrably
better and safe place for women to live in.
Raghavan said the
High Commission has received numerous messages from various quarters
including the Singapore government deeply mourning the death.
He appreciated the
help extended by the Singapore Foreign Ministry, the government and the
Mount Elizabeth Hospital for all their support in the last two days.
Replying to
questions on the shifting of the girl from Delhi to Singapore, he said
consultations were held between doctors of Safdarjung hospital and Mount
Elizabeth Hospital and they must have given full thought to it before
taking it.
Asked whether
doctors felt that she could have died to her shift from Delhi to
Singapore, Raghavan said “no such sentiments was expressed to me.
Both the doctors
(P K Verma of Safdarjung and Yatin Mehta of Medanta Medicity) said she
was very badly injured in the assault of December 16 night”.
He said the best
possible treatment was given to the girl in Delhi and in Singapore and
the cause of her death was “the injuries she sustained”.
“All possible
medical efforts were made to treat the injuries. The efforts were not
successful in helping her to overcome the injuries,” he said. Declining
to go into the details of the family, he said they had requested that
the privacy of their identity be protected.
Meanwhile, the
hospital added: “We are humbled by the privilege of being tasked to care
for her in her final struggle. We acknowledge the faith the Indian
Government and the patient’s family have placed with us to ensure the
best care possible was indeed provided to her at Mount Elizabeth
Hospital”.
“We share their
huge sadness at her passing and will work with the High Commission of
India to provide the family support in this time of grief,” said Dr Loh.
Late last night,
the hospital said the condition of the rape victim had taken a “turn for
the worse”. “As of 9 pm (6:30 PM IST), the patient’s condition has
taken a turn for the worse. Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs
of severe organ failure,” Loh had said in a statement.
“This is despite
doctors fighting for her life including putting her on maximum
artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as
stimulants which maximise her body’s capability to fight infections,”
the CEO had said.
During her
treatment in Safdarjung Hospital, the girl’s condition had recorded
several ups and downs. Three days after the attack, her gangrenous
intestine was removed.
The beastial
attack on the girl and her male friend in the bus had sparked off
protests by students and women activists which took a violent turn in
the capital last Saturday and Sunday.
Death for rapists
was one of the demands of the protesters and the victim’s demise could
trigger fresh display of emotions on the streets.
A series of peaceful marches and protests were on Saturday
held in the capital, including one at Jantar Mantar, to mourn the death
of the 23-year-old gangrape victim even as India Gate and Raisina Hill
were kept out of bounds for people.
Policemen were
deployed in strength in and around India Gate and Raisina Hill as well
as other parts of the capital to ensure that the protests remain
peaceful besides shutting down of Delhi Metro stations near the war
memorial.
Delhi Chief
Minister Sheila Dikshit requested Home Minister SushilKumar Shinde to
lift restrictions on holding peaceful demonstration in memory of the
victim in and around India Gate.
In one of the
protests, JNU students marched from their campus to Munirka bus stop
from where the girl boarded the bus in which she was gangraped and
brutally assaulted on December 16 allegedly by six men.
The students
announced that they will hold a night vigil at the same spot on New Year
Eve demanding strong laws to punish sexual offenders.
Activists of Left
parties staged a peace march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar led by
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat. She said there was a need for
fixing accountability.
“Unless we do
this, such incidents will repeat,” she said. Asked about sexist comments
by politicians, she said it shows the mindset of people and that
“action should be taken against them in Parliament”.
At Jantar Mantar, a number of people sat on a silent protest.
However, later
there were sloganeering and demands for immediate punishment of the
culprits. The mourners also protested against the security lock down of
India Gate and Raisina Hill where violent demonstrations were witnessed
last weekend over the rape.
People started
gathering at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi at around 10 AM and sat in
silence.CM Delhi was not allowed to speak to the protesters.
Aam Aadmi Party
leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas joined the
protest along with some of their supporters with their mouth tied with
black cloth.Kejriwal tweeted, “her death is a matter of shame and sorrow
for all of us. Let’s resolve that we will not let her death go in
vain.”
In tweets,
activist Kiran Bedi said, “today is a day of reflection and personal
audit on the way we as parents and teachers are grooming boys in this
country.
“Today is day of
mourning on lives we have lost because of failure of our criminal
justice system and resolve to not fail it in future. Today is a day to
also reflect the way we project our women in media,” she said.
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